Cubs, an all encompassing trip

Results tagged ‘ Yovanni Gallardo ’

Can’t really fault Travis Wood too much in this one, he had a quality start on the mound and was the only Cubs offense in a 4-1 defeat. In the game preview I mentioned that the goal last night was to strike out less than ten times, goal failed. The Cubs struck out 11 times last night, the Cubs have struck out 65 times in the last five games against the Brewers, all losses. Back to Wood, he was solid going seven innings giving up three runs on five hits and striking out four. Wood’s only mistake was a 3-0 fastball to Jeff Bianchi who launched his first major league home run into the left field bleachers to give the Brewers a 3-0 lead. The Cubs had no answer for Gallardo as they were only able to record three hits, one of which was a home run by Cubs starter Travis Wood that left the yard. Everyone on the Cubs seemed lost last night, a lot of that had to do with Gallardo’s dominance, he had every hitter off-balance and guessing, it’s not everyday that Rizzo stikes out three times. Luis Valbuena and Starlin Castro were the only Cubs to register base hits other than Wood, both singles. Game three of this four game series will be tonight, let’s make contact!

Tonight’s goal, strike out less than ten times, let’s do it! Travis Wood takes the ball tonight for the Cubs as they look for some sort of success against a Brewers team that they have lost to 11 out of 14 games this season. Here is how the Cubs will line up tonight.

The Cubs look to continue their success on the longest home stand of the year as they welcome the Brewers to town for a four game set. Revenge might also be on the Cubs mind as they were swept by the Brewers last week in Milwaukee. At this point both teams are playing out the string, but it’s an important time for many young guys as they are trying to impress the front office heading into next year. One guy that is doing that lately is Brett Jackson, after struggling immediately after his call up Jackson has made the necessary adjustments to find results. It seems to be working as Jackson was 4-for-8 against the Rockies with two home runs and three RBI’s. He will look to continue that success against a Brewers team that is finally finding some traction, just a little too late to salvage this season. The Brewers are 7-3 in their last ten games and are playing much better baseball of late. They are led by reigning MVP Ryan Braun who is putting up similar numbers this year, if the Cubs want to get that revenge against the Brewers they are going to have to shut Braun down. Surprisingly the Cubs have limited Braun this year, sure he is hitting .304 against the Cubs this year but he only has one home run, and four RBI’s.

The Cubs struck out a grand total of 13 times today, that comes on the heels of 12 strikeouts last night, and 12 strikeouts in game one, that’s not very good. The result was the same for all three games, a loss, as the Brewers finished off the sweep this afternoon with a 3-2 victory. Travis Wood started for the Cubs and pitched well enough to win, unfortunately he finished the day with his 10th defeat of the season. Wood tossed seven strong innings giving up three runs on six hits while walking one and striking out six. The Brewers had seven hits on the day, five of them went for extra bases, that doesn’t usually bode well. Hard to score runs when you don’t put the ball in play and as I mentioned, the Cubs didn’t do nearly enough of that again today. They only managed five hits in the loss, this coming after only four hits the night before. Bryan LaHair, yes that Bryan LaHair, launched his first home run since July 4th to bring the Cubs within one in the seventh, but that was as close as they would get. The Cubs will have tomorrow off to lick their wounds as they head home to start a weekend series against Colorado on Friday.

The Cubs will try to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Brewers this afternoon in Milwaukee. Travis Wood will take the ball for the Cubs and faceoff against Brewers ace Yovanni Gallardo at 1:10 PM CST on WGN. Here is how the Cubs will line up today, Alfonso Soriano gets the day off.

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